I have a 3.3 gpa unweighted and my UC GPA is a 3.73 gpa weighted.
I have taken AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus, AP Language, AP World History, AP U.S History and this year I am taking AP Statistics and AP Econ/Gov
At first I was cut from badminton in freshman year and that’s when I tried really hard and practiced multiple days every week and got lessons. I was a JV 1 in badminton (Sophomore year) and Varsity 2 in badminton girls doubles (Junior year)
I volunteered for Interact, Vietnamese Student Association, and for the Salvation Army (just started this summer; not as much hours as the others)
I have joined Leadership in 10th and 11th grade (Newspaper editor and lead in the committee in 11th grade)
I was part of the associated student body cabinet (sound and tech position)
I monitored shows and presentations; in charge of sound system for shows and presentations at school theater on weekends also; Managed audio systems and back lights; Sound and Tech commissioner
I had two jobs in total, one as an English summer school tutor a few months ago and I currently work as a milk tea barista and cashier
I am also officer for Korean Dance Movement and dance for contests where our dance team won 3rd place in the talent show and was rewarded money
I also won a writing contest as 2nd place in the school hosted by the district
I started an organization at my school which makes me LEO Club president
I have won a student leadership award and several principal’s list and honor roll award (maintained a GPA above 3.5 for the semester)
I was also involved in MUN for some conferences
I took a CPR/First Aide online course and I have received a CPR certification
I take hip hop dance classes during weekends, along with taking dance inside my school also
I was tutored for trigonometry weekend course, algebra 2 weekend course, chemistry tutoring, Kaplan SAT prep.
GPA is king with the UC’s and your UC GPA is below the 25th percentile for all campuses on your list. What are your SAT/ACT scores? Intended major?
Consider these UC’s as Reaches. Add UCSC/UCR and UCM to the list along with some Cal states. Definitely apply, but add schools where you have a more realistic chance and would be happy to attend. The UC’s do look at all self-reported grades but the UC GPA is what counts.
I have been told that UW GPA is second in importance, the first being UC GPA. They use the UW GPA as an “equalizer” as some high schools seem to inflate their students’ W GPA.
If you want more opinions, post your test scores. Also, do you have any other schools are on your list? You need some safeties and matches. @ucbalumnus’ post shows the difficulty you face for the UC’s listed so what else do you want?
My SAT score is 1050 but I’m retaking it. My score was low because it was the first time everyone took the NEW SAT and the proctor didnt inform us of the free response section and he was unaware also…
With a 1050 on the new SAT, your chances are quite slim. Raise it to the 1300s and you have better chances at UCI, UCSC, UCD. If you’re leaning towards UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, then get it to a 1400. If you want to compensate for your GPA (since UCs like high GPAs=4.0+), a score about 1400 is much better.
UCs emphasize GPA much more than test scores, so higher test scores would be unlikely to improve chances for admission by a lot or compensate much of an uncompetitive GPA.